Keeping Your Cover
by xxAniAminexx
Summary: Lucy has always known what she wanted; to graduate from Fairy Hill Academy, an undercover spy school for girls, before working in the real world. Seventeen years later, she is one year away from finally graduating. All she has to do is prove she has what it takes to survive. And she doesn't need help from her new "partner", Natsu Dragneel, to do it either...right?
1. Making History

**A/N ****The following story is inspired by Ally Carter's series; _The Gallagher Academy_****. The plot will be different from the series and so will the conclusion, but there will be some similarities in event details. And, if you haven't read anything by her yet, I suggest you go to the nearest book store now. She is such an amazing author!**

**Disclaimer- Fairy Tail is made by Hiro Mashima and Gallagher Academy belongs to Ally Carter**

_Edited-3/29/15_

_*Fixed petty grammar mistake that usually wouldn't have bothered with, but ended up fixing anyways*_

* * *

There are so many pros and cons for living in a mansion that acts as a double for your undercover spy school. For example: your dorms use to be the bedrooms of a late princess from two hundred years ago: PRO. Heating and air conditioning weren't invented until 1855 or about 50 years after the mansion was built: CON. Since your dorm use to be the bedroom of a princess, you are granted a ton of space and an amazing view of the small town just beyond the school's gates: PRO. The school bell wasn't invented until 70 years after the mansion was constructed: CON.

So that, of course, left my school with other means of getting their students ready for breakfast at 8 am in the morning; the mechanical alarm invented in 1787. Or as I like to call it, "The Loudest Sound in the Entire World.".

"Everybody up!" yelled Erza, one of my roommates, over the blaring alarm.

I groaned before rolling over and placing my pillow over my ears, "Why can't they wake us up normally again?"

"Because, we aren't considered normal?" answered Levy from her bed across the room.

"Point taken," I sat up and pushed my bed's covers to the end of the bed, "But it would be nice to have the ability to hear by the time I turn twenty."

There was a click and the shrieking alarm disconnected. I grinned over at Levy.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you for being such an amazing hacker?"

Levy returned the grin and shut her laptop with a snap, "You could stand to mention it more."

"If we don't hurry we will miss the Back From Summer Breakfast." stated Erza from her own bed.

"Yeah, yeah." muttered Levy as she rose out of her bed.

Erza threw us our uniforms so we could change.

Contrary to popular opinion, our school uniform weren't black jumpsuit with gadgets, like lasers that burned through metal as if it were butter hidden in secret compartments. No, the uniform was simply that of a normal, rich private schoolgirl; white blouse, purple sweater with the Fairy Hill Academy's crest, purple and white plaid skirt, and white shoes.

"Twenty minutes." warned Erza, already dressed and ready to leave.

"You know, we can't all be inhumanly fast changers like _some people_." said Levy as she rolled her eyes in Erza's direction.

Erza huffed while I laughed and continued yanking on my shoes, "Alright, I'm done."

"Me too." said Levy. She stood up from her bed and smoothed out her skirt with her hands.

Erza nodded and threw us each our bags (an impressive feat since Levy stores practically all her subjects in the tiny thing; including, the 679 paged _Guide to Cracking Common F.B.I Codes_. Although she will we always insist it is only used for 'light' reading).

Five minutes later, we were making our way down the spiral staircase, towards the Hall with the rest of the girls from our tower.

"You think they are serving pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast today?" asked one of the girls from our group.

"No," answered Levy, immediately "They are making waffles with cream today."

"Really?" the girl asked, curiously, "How do you know?"

Levy blushed, "I heard one of the professors talking about it yesterday."

The lie came smooth and easy to her lips. Although, I doubt anyone was paying much attention to the small tell tale sign she made (Levy was known for her brains, not her lies or fighting skills), as they excitedly discussed the new information on breakfast. I had to cut them some slack for missing the way she flicked her eyes slightly to the left; evidently giving away her lie. Fairy Hill Academy's cooks knew how to make an awesome breakfast, especially after training in Paris over the summer.

"I bet the cooks have a whole bunch of new recipes for desserts this year." said Cana, coming up from behind.

"That should be interesting to taste." said Erza as Cana slung her arms around her and Levy's shoulders.

"Oh, don't be a downer, Erza," said Cana "they aren't stupid enough to go messing with your strawberry cake."

Erza shrugged of the comment with indifference, but Levy, Cana, and I didn't miss the small satisfied grin that flashed across her lips before disappearing when we reached the dark, solid wood door that led to the North Wing.

Erza had just grabbed the brass knob when a timid voice stopped her.

"You can't!"

Erza looked up in confusion before letting go of the knob. Everyone in the group then turned to see Miss. Aries, the Culture and Assimilation teacher, pushing through the group of girls to reach the doors. When she reached Erza, she placed her hand on the door; preventing the doors from being opened.

"The North Wing is off limits." Miss. Aries said, looking hesitantly at our group.

"How are we suppose to get to our classes?" protested a voice from the back.

Miss. Aries looked towards the voice, "I'm sorry, but you must find another route to your classes."

"Can you at least tell us why?" asked Cana.

Miss. Aires's eyes grew wide at the question.

"This Wing is temporarily out of use." said Miss. Aries.

"Out of use?" I asked, confused, "Did something bad happen?"

She shook her head and didn't offer any other answer.

More voices spoke up and began bombarding Miss. Aries with detailed questions on the unexpected closing of the Wing. Given Miss. Aries's personality, I gave her the next 78 seconds until she cracked. Although, it turned out Erza noticed this too and quickly put an end to the interrogation.

"You heard her," said Erza in her commanding tone. "We will find another way to the Hall."

There were groans of protest which even I silently agreed too. Almost every class we had required us to travel through the North Wing.

"I said, we will find another route to the Hall." repeated Erza in a dangerous tone.

The protests stopped and everyone quickly nodded in agreement: no one wanted to be on the receiving end of one of Erza's weapons. There was a very clear and detailed reason she was known as a prodigy in welding each and everything filled under the name "DANGEROUS".

Erza smiled, her threatening look vanishing, "Glad to see everyone agrees." she said, before turning her attention on Miss. Aries "I will make sure no one enters the North Wing without permission."

Miss Aries nodded gratefully, "I'm sorry for the trouble."

While Erza reassured Miss Aries, I elbowed Levy and whispered in her ear, "What do you think is really going on?"

Levy shrugged, "Who knows. " she answered, in the same quiet whisper, "Although, if you are thinking of finding out, you won't get very far with Erza guarding the place."

At that moment, Erza's gaze filtered from Miss. Aries to glared directly at us, as if she knew exactly what we were discussing. And let me just say, Erza took a whole new meaning to the saying 'if looks could kill'. We faked an innocent smile, but Erza's gaze didn't shift a millimeter.

And when the smile doesn't work you do the next best thing: Run.

"So, I heard we are having waffles with cream for breakfast," I said, turning around to face the group, "And I suggest we go before the freshman eat them all."

The group nodded and shuffled away back down the corridor, to find an alternate route to the Hall. I ran my fingers through my hair, and followed them; leaving Erza alone to finish discussing her watch times.

* * *

It turns out when you have to take a detour to the Hall you not only miss waffles with cream, but you also miss a lot more than that. For example: the memo about new security stationed outside of the Hall's doors.

And trust me, when you have twenty well- trained spies; who, by the way, are tired from making about three U-turns and twelve double backs trying to find the Hall, you don't greet the new protection enforcers with cake and tea. Not to mention, we were also _starving_. So, yeah, having twenty strangers dressed in all black jump down from the shadows and engage you in hand-to-hand combat does get a girl a little irritated.

"I said, _Get Off_!" shouted Cana, placing a flawless roundhouse kick in her attacker's stomach.

Her attacker recovered quickly and easily caught her next kick with their gloved hand. Her attacker then swiftly moved under her and shifted her weight in order to flipped her caught foot over her own head; causing her to literally fly head-over-heels backwards.

"Cana!" I shouted when I heard her shriek in surprise and end up on the floor on her back.

I grunted in pain when my own masked attacker used my moment of distraction to punch me directly in the gut. HARD.

"'Rule 89- Never take your eyes off your objective.'" recited my attacker mockingly as he blocked my return hit with his forearm.

I narrowed my eyes in concentration. Okay, these masked people were obviously trained well in combat. Not to mention the fact that they somehow got their hands on a copy of _100 Basic Spy Rules for Dummies_.

I faked a swift kick to the left while my right arm came up fast with my hand in a fist. I heard a scoff come from my attacker before catching my clench fist inches before it made contact with the side of their face.

"'Underground Dog- distract the enemy before swiftly knocking them out with a punch to the side of the face.' " he recited again in the same mocking tone as before.

My eye twitched in annoyance and ducked just in time to dodge their next attack. Not only were these creeps fast, but they have been obviously been informed on what exactly we were capable of.

"Lucy Kick!" I yelled as I kicked my right leg forward.

I smirked when my foot made finally made contact with his stomach. Hey, there was no rules saying the only moves I could make were the ones straight from the book. I would know too; Levy had the book memorized.

There was another shriek making my eyes widen in horror. It had come from Levy!

While my own attacker was still recovering from my hit, I pivoted sharply on my heel to find the noise had indeed come from Levy. Her attacker was about two times her size and was using it to their advantage. They had her arms pinned to her sides and raised a good foot in the air. Levy kicked her heel backwards making contact with their chest. It was in vain, however, because her attacker didn't so much as wince as she continued to struggle.

Although, her attacker did wince when her bag's strap finally snapped and slipped off her shoulder. It landed directly on their foot with a loud thud. I couldn't blame them either, even someone of that size had to have felt _something_ when a 100 ton bag fell on your foot.

"Don't worry about your friends." said a muffled voice near my ear, "We don't seriously attack people without a reason."

That comment only made me fume. So, they weren't even attacking at full strength!

"You jerk!" I yelled and japed my elbow directly at his nose.

Stupid mistake.

He ducked before shifting to flip me over in the exact same fashion Cana's attacker had.

"I win." he said, moving for my legs.

"Not quite." I replied, smugly. I placed my right hand momentary on his back and flipped in an easy back flip before landing gracefully behind him.

I slipped into a basic defense position while my opponent turned his head to look at me over their shoulder.

"Impressive." he commented before dropping into a similar pose.

That was the moment when the microphone flipped on.

"Okay, guys, I think you have made your point." said a static filled voice over the microphone.

Wait...microphones? There weren't any sort of microphones hooked up near the front of the Hall's doors. Behind me, I heard all sounds of fighting cease from the opposing side. I shifted my gaze slightly to look out of the corner of my eye towards the paused fights. Cana had successfully managed to get her attacker in a choke hold under her arm and was curiously looking at me as if asking for permission to continue. Levy was still in the same raised position as before, but had stopped her struggling when her attacker had released most of the pressure on their hold. Most of the girls from my group were in the similar positions, each paused halfway between attacking or blocking.

"What does that mean?" I asked, not moving from my defense position.

"He means exactly what he says." said my former attacker.

I winced as bright light shown on our group. I blinked rapidly for a few seconds before the sudden black spots disappeared and my vision returned to normal. I took the opportunity to take in my surroundings since we obviously weren't in front of the Hall's doors anymore.

And I really wished it hadn't.

We were all in the middle of the Hall with a spotlight shining directly on us. How we got there I had no idea. All I knew was we were still frozen halfway through fighting attackers who had obviously given up. And to make matters worse every student and teacher who attended Fairy Hill Academy were standing off to the sides watching us. I gulped when I saw most of the teachers shaking their heads as if they had just confirmed something they had been contemplating for quite some time.

I straightened up from my stance while Cana released her prisoner and Levy was dropped roughly to the ground by her captor.

"You can remove your masks now." said the same static filled voice from before.

I watched as they, including my own, reach up to remove their black ski masks from their faces.

I gasped when I saw who I had been sparing with seconds ago. It was a boy about my age with spiky pink hair and a huge grin. And given the equally surprised gasps coming from not only my fellow classmates but the underclassmen watching from the sides; I wasn't just making up them.

No, I wasn't making up the boys who had just made Fairy Hill history by being the first males in the last two hundred years to ever see the inside of our walls..._ever_.

The microphone crackled again as the voice spoke again, " Yes, yes. This must be a very surprise to you girls."

"Ya think?!" yelled Cana.

The voice coughed before continuing, "As you may have already figured out. The following fight was a test to see how you girls scale against boys in equal stats from another spy academy. We have now reached a conclusion."

I inwardly grimaced. I didn't need to see the looks my classmates were given me to know what they were thinking. We had failed..._badly_.

"What does that mean now?" asked Levy

"It means—" answered our academy's Headmaster, Porlyusica, as she began emerging from the shadows near the back of the Hall. "that you have a new assignment."

"Assignment?" I echoed.

"Yes, a new assignment." she repeated. "You all should be well aware of what happens after you graduate from this Academy, I presume?"

We nodded in union. The answer to that question was easy. We went into the real world where we would separate. Some of us would go out into the field where we will being our assignments for the government, while others would work underground in the labs developing more inventions or cracking hidden codes.

"This test's purpose was to show us how you seniors would rank against the males competing in the same field. And, by what you have just shown us—" She eyed us with distaste. "You are in need of much more training."

Headmaster Porlyusica slipped through the crowd of teachers and underclassman towards us.

"These are the people you working with, ladies!" she said, her voice echoing off the walls, "And these are also the people you will be working _against_."

She stopped when she reached the middle of the Hall. She did a quick once over at our tangled hair and dirtied uniforms we had received from our fighting. She shook her head in disgust.

"There are no second chances in the real world. If you make one small mistake or one minor slip up; you're over." She turned her gaze directly to me and continued, "And if you are unable to meet the required marks. You will never be ready for the real world."

At this, she turned abruptly and began walking towards the doors leading out into the corridors. She raised her hand in a gesture for the underclassmen and teachers to follow.

"I will leave you alone to introduce yourself, boys!" called Headmaster Porlyusica's voice from the corridor as the last plaid skirt flashed out of sight .

The wooden doors shut, leaving us alone to deal with the "assignment" boys.

"Well," I prompted to the pink haired boy in front of me after a moment of silence, "Who are you?"

My irritated tone caused him to grin and hold out his hand for me to shake, "Name is Natsu Dragneel. I'm your new partner."

* * *

**A/N I tried a new writing style than what I usually do. Although, I'm not sure which I prefer.**


	2. Just My Luck

**A/N This had got to be the worst update timing I have ever had. Almost a full year since the last update and I'm almost 89% positive most of the followers of this story either having given up hope it will ever be updated or have forgotten it entirely. I know I did for a bit of time. I guess it's better late than never, right?**

**Disclaimer- Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail**

* * *

Like many would expect growing up in the world of spies, I didn't really get to experience the whole typical childhood. Instead of dolls and toys, I played with locks and keys. While other children were learning to play baseball, I was learning how to knock out a grown man using pressure points.

It's not that I minded being raised the way I was. Quite the contrary really. I mean, while other kids my age were mesmerized with fake stories of princesses being saved by the heroic prince, I grew up hearing of real-life secret mission of infiltration from the people who actually did it.

How awesome is that?

Yet, with this came other things: for example, the ability to lie. This may seem like a petty thing to most people as everyone does it, some more than others, but there is a distinct difference between the ability to fake the truth and the ability to_ lie_.

The ability to come up with a good, believable lie is mandatory for a spy. It could be the difference between life and death. This is where most untrained people went wrong. When fear sets in, people begin to fake the truth; telling lies left and right and before they know it, they get reality mixed up with their fabrication of lies.

The key is to keep it sweet and simple. That way you keep your lies straight and people usually don't feel like putting in the effort to actually contradict you. And after a while, for people like me, telling lies becomes more comfortable than the truth.

Of course some people were worse at it than others, like Levy, but many skated by with a acceptable mark and then were able to further make it up with better records in other fields.

And, for this exact reason, is why I didn't believe a word this "Natsu" was telling me. Assignment: Yes. Partners? That would be a negative. He must have been on the wrong receiving of a Triple Flip Kick to think I would swallow such a horrible lie as that. I already had my team— heck, we even _lived_ together— and there were no signs that we were ever going to split, at least not before we graduated. They may be a new assignment, but there was no way the Headmaster would approve such a ridiculous idea as to split up the three-man teams they had formed our freshman year for a group of boys intent on beating us a couple minutes ago.

"Did she go mute or something?"

My blood boiled at the sound of Natsu's question. Was he just trying to make me mad or was he just being stupid?

"No. I can speak." I replied stiffly, not making any movement to accept his hand in any form of fashion whatsoever.

It was childish, I know, but I was in dire need of an explanation before even considering accepting the new assignment (not that I really had a choice, Headmaster Porlyusica had made that particular point fairly clear.).

Not to mention, as my stomach dimly reminded me, I really needed breakfast.

And I was still mad at him for earlier.

"Well, that's good." Natsu said, smoothly retracting his hand to sweep into his pink locks, "I bet you are wondering what this is all about, right?"

"You got that right!" Cana interjected loudly.

"And while I don't really know the details too much—"

"That's because you decided to sleep during the briefing, Flamebrain!"

Natsu's eyes narrowed in irritation at the interjection from one of the dark haired boy across the room. My eyes flicked in the voice's direction as Natsu simultaneously made a rude gesture with his fist at the boy's face. From his position, I could tell the raven-hair had been in the middle of brushing most of the grime off of Juvia's uniform before he had interrupted Natsu. And while helping cleaning Juvia off may have helped repay his compensation for the damage he had done to it during their fight— Yes, I did in fact see you holding her to the ground with your foot— he seemed to have also shed his black turtle neck and pants in some strange act of forgiveness.

I will never understand the inner workings of a boy's mind.

"Like I was saying before Ice Prick decided to be a moron," Natsu continued, drawing my attention back to his face, "The details are a bit fuzzy, but the main part is we will be working together for the rest of the year."

"So during our training missions." I replied automatically.

"Them too."

I blinked. It was as if he was insinuating that we—

"Hold on here." Cana's voice rang out, "Are you meaning to say that we are stuck with you people for the rest of our term? Like, all the time?"

Natsu nodded slowly.

"Even during our classes, lunch, and extra training courses?" Levy asked, incredulously.

Another nod.

"What about bathroom breaks?" Cana asked, "We do get those right? Along with bathing time?"

Natsu's reply to this was again interrupted, but this time by a suave voice from next to 'Ice Prick'.

"That, my dear lady, would be a no. But, other than those times think of us as just another one of your classmates with all the same classes as yourself," A glint appeared on his glasses as he adjusted them on his nose, "Or, if you so desire, you may even think of myself as something more."

I inwardly gagged at the mental sight of roses blooming around his face. He was a player. Definitely a player.

"Where will you sleep?" Levy questioned suddenly, "All the towers are filled up already."

At this, Natsu grinned evilly, "That particular answer is a secret."

* * *

A bowl of oatmeal.

3-minute, just add a cup of water, microwavable oatmeal was all I had to eat for breakfast that morning because apparently no one had decided to save us anything from the breakfast. Not that I was expecting something grand or anything, especially after what had happened minutes prior, but microwavable oatmeal? Really?

It was the start of a very long day indeed.

The first day back to the Academy was pretty much entirely dedicated to the newbies to the Academy. A day spent touring the grounds and learning of all the fabulous things the Academy had to offer. Most to which, ended with making the freshman excited for their first 'real' day the following Monday. That is until they realized they were utterly lied to when they were told G.Y.M would be their favorite class. Yeah, running 10 laps around campus is NOT a fun warm-up. Especially when you have Erza leading.

For everyone else, the day was mostly spent catching up and sharing summer adventure stories with roommates and friends on the grassy school grounds and all around having a fun time enjoying the last bit of August weather in peace.

Something I had been very much looking forward to—but like my waffles with cream—the idea was immediately tarnished.

So, instead I was tasked— along with the rest of my senior class— with playing tour guides for our new partners.

"What's that?"

"A portrait of our founder, Mavis Vermilion. Wouldn't recommend touching it until you feel like losing a hand to acid."

Natsu nodded approvingly, "And that?"

"An emergency button in the event of anyone outside of our school grounds were to enter without supervision or permission."

"You have a button for that? Why?"

I rolled my eyes, "Our school is riddled with secret passages and hallways leading to the outside. Most to which have either been sealed or are under high security from our professors to make sure our fasade of "A High Class Private Schools for Girls" stays just as that to the rest of the town. While it isn't really necessary since no regular person could really make it onto school grounds without us knowing, it puts the freshman's skeptical parents at ease."

Natsu whistled, "Which explains the uniforms."

"It's part of the whole 'undercover' thing we have going."

"So where do you guys have parties?"

This question took me off guard. Parties? Who had time for parties? I mean, there was the occasional get-together in the dorms, but nothing to the extent of whatever was most likely running through Natsu's head. Summer was the only time we ever had off to do anything really fun, but even then we spent most of our time fine tuning our skills, or learning other ones. I mean, we were graduating in a year! We didn't have time to mess around.

Judging by his downfall of expression, I assumed my silence had answered the question for him. On the bright side, I now knew something I had over Natsu: a poker face.

"Don't tell me you never have fun here." Natsu said, his tone almost pleading with me to contradict his accusation.

"We have study sessions."

"Which aren't fun. What about playing pranks? Do you guys do that?"

I made a face. And get yelled at by the Headmaster? No thank you!

"Okaaay. What about sneaking into the Hall and stuffing your face with as much food as possible?"

"Look, Natsu, I don't know how it was at your other Academy, but here it's—"

"Boring." He interjected before sighing, "No wonder you are so testy all the time. You never have any real fun."

I grounded my teeth together. It was just my luck to be paired with the most insufferable jerk I had ever met in my life. Even the crazed monkey I met in Peru three years ago was better than him.

Suddenly, Natsu clapped his hands together before rubbing them together in an obvious sign that he was about to do something that would break at least 20+ school rules.

"Okay, it's decided. We're sneaking out."

* * *

**A/N While I won't promise when I will update again (as my schedule this year was far more busier than I ever expected much less intended), I will promise the next update will be much quicker than next year. Until then!**


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